Art Monthly and the Australia Council

300 covers: ART MONTHLY in Australia 1987 – 2017, exhibition installation view, Foyer Gallery, ANU School of Art & Design, Canberra, 7–17 June 2017; photo: Aishah Kenton

In these extraordinarily difficult times for Australian publishing, we stand in solidarity with our colleagues Artlink Magazine, Australian Book Review, Eyeline Publishing, The Lifted Brow and Overland Literary Journal in expressing disappointment at the recent outcomes of the Australia Council’s organisational funding for 2021–24.

Like these other important cultural titles (with a combined 243-year publishing history), Art Monthly’s Four Year Funding was not renewed.

While we congratulate the 95 national arts organisations who were successful, and appreciate the incredibly difficult decision faced by the Visual Arts Peers, this collective withdrawal of government support for Australian arts publishing at this critical juncture needs to be fully acknowledged and reflected on by all.

What does this mean for Art Monthly? While having received Australia Council support for much of our 33 years, we remain resilient (in spirit) and nimble. We continue to explore new partnerships and will soon reveal plans for a revised print schedule for 2020 as we absorb the impacts of this funding decision on top of the devastating effects of the coronavirus.

In some good news, Art Monthly was successful in having its smaller amount of VACS Priority Organisation Funding renewed for 2021–24, and we look forward to updating our loyal readers, subscribers and supporters in the coming weeks.

Stay home (subscribing to Art Monthly) and stay safe,   

Ann Stephen, Chair

Michael Fitzgerald, Editor